PR View by Ilyssa Levins

DTC PR boosts the ROI of disease-awareness advertising with
minimal investment.A $4 million
to $6 million PR campaign delivers a significant level of disease-state media
relations and educational events in partnership with advocacy groups, complete
with direct response mechanisms such as Website address, toll-free phone number and PO Box. That's a
drop in the proverbial bucket for a DTC advertising budget.

DTC PR cost helps build patient databases by delivering
messages that are more convincing than DTCA, because independent sources (media
and third-party organizations) are believed and trusted by consumers.

PR can also deliver disease-state messages more effectively
to multicultural populations, which often do not receive medical information
through traditional channels but rather from clergy and other community-based
sources.

PR drives people into databases, where questions are asked,
information is dispatched and names are captured. At some point in the
dialogue, an opt-in query is made, and upon receiving the patient's consent,
the company has the chance to communicate its product messages.

Now for the bonus points. PR helps sister media improve the
bottom line and patients' lives. Research shows that knowledge about disease
states and therapeutic options is a critical component of patient-centered
healthcare practices. Highly involved patients are more adherent to treatment
regimens, increasing drug utilization and patient outcomes.

In addition, PR can help promote the strong evidence of
pharma's commitment to the public good at a time when the industry's reputation
is at an all-time low and media skepticism at an all-time high.

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